Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Let the cat out of the........wait, where'd she go?

Come here. Closer! Come on, I don't bite. Closer!

Look at that. You see it? It's the GRAY HAIR my cat gave me when she pulled her fantastic disappearing act this evening.

I've been packing all day. Jere's room is floor to ceiling boxes, and I've been working on emptying bookshelves and drawers. I stopped just long enough to order some pizza. After dinner and checking my email, I realized I hadn't seen Ginger in a couple of hours. It was 7 and way past dinnertime for her, and she'd never come out to remind me to get her food. So I went out to the kitchen, put her food in the bowl, and clinked the spoon on the edge so she could hear me. But I got no response.

So I started looking in the usual places. Until I realized I'd packed up all the usual places. For half an hour I ran around, checking under beds, in closets, under dressers, and I heard nothing from her. At that point, I lost it. I started throwing blankets aside, screaming for her. I even looked in the dryer, in case she had someone got in there. Eventually, I called Andrea to help me. I was afraid Ginger had gotten outside when the pizza guy was here, but that's not really her style.

Of course, calling Andrea meant I found the cat after Andrea was already on her way here. I decided to take another look in Jere's room. And that's where she was. Hiding in one of Jerry's drawers. And not an empty one. She had climbed in through an empty drawer, then curled up to sleep in a bunch of Jerry's t-shirts the next drawer over. I had then closed the empty drawer and she'd gotten trapped. When I opened the drawer and found her, she was looking at me like I was an angel sent to rescue her. I have no clue how long she'd been stuck in the drawer. Poor baby!

And this is what a happy, relieved cat looks like. She's lying here with me in bed. She's had (cat safe) milk and a couple of treats, and I've had some (organic) milk and cookies. We've both calmed down from the ordeal.

Today's lesson: If you ever lose something, all you have to do is ask for help. Because the second that person is on their way, you'll find what you were looking for. That's how it works.